Trouble With A Capital 'T'
by spritesinger
Summary: Rumours of Fell Folk in the Western Wood cause Peter and Edmund to go and investigate. When they still aren't back a week later it's up to Lucy to save the day. A tale of little sisters coming into their own.
1. Promises

_I got the idea for this story from a series of prompts I saw on somebody's profile. I wrote them all down, intending to say where they came from if I ever used them, but have unfortunately lost the username. Thank you to whoever the prompts belonged to and my apologies at not being able to give you due credit!_

_Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story belong to C. S. Lewis, apart from a few that I have created. _

Promises

To put it bluntly, I was bored. That is to say, mostly bored, mixed with a small amount of amusement at the unholy glee that lit up Corin's face. Normally I would be the first to say that having visitors at Cair was fun. More than fun, in fact. There were the inevitable parties and picnics and when Corin just so happened to be one of the visitors, quite a few pranks as well. Unfortunately, when their much longed for visit ended up clashing with the unannounced arrival of Governor Temus and his daughter from the Lone Islands the potential for disaster multiplied tenfold.

At this precise moment, disaster was perched precariously on the top of the head of Beatrice (Governor Temus' daughter) in the form of a _very_ large cricket. As I said, the potential for disaster multiplied tenfold when Corin was around.

Apart from when we had guests, Peter, Susan, Edmund and I would usually eat breakfast quietly, talking about all things that didn't concern running a country if we possibly could. It was our time to just enjoy being a family and helped us to clear our heads ready for the day to come. Sadly Governor Temus, it appeared, did not follow this custom. Rather, he was attempting to carry on the conversation about taxes that he and Edmund had started the evening before.

My brother, who was not a morning person, simply drank his tea and made various non-committal noises. Catching my eye, he gave an almost imperceptible nod towards Peter, diverting my attention away from the cricket and towards the mouse whispering something in his ear. A moment later, my oldest brother quietly excused himself from the table and slipped out the small door behind his chair.

Very odd. It must have been an incredibly important message to get my brother to abandon his breakfast. I had half made up my mind to go after him when a small voice spoke up in my ear.

"The High King has received an important message and requires your presence in the study as soon as possible," informed the small brown mouse perched on my shoulder.

"Did he say what the message was about, Jenna?" I asked back as quietly as I could. Not quietly enough, it turned out because an inane giggle smothered Jenna's reply.

"Oh, how perfectly _adorable_!" Beatrice trilled. "So _sweet_!"

The sound of Jenna gritting her teeth reached my ears.

"This is Jenna, L- Beatrice," I informed her, remembering just in time to omit the Lady before her name as she had begged me to the previous day. Quite why the fact that we were almost the same age meant we were going to be the best of friends was currently eluding me but, hopefully, I would become more enlightened as the day wore on.

"I'm afraid you must excuse me," I said as Susan and Edmund also made their excuses. "I should be back in a few moments."

Pausing a moment behind Susan as she bent down to whisper something in Corin's ear I watched the cricket slowly start to crawl off Beatrice's head, then followed Susan as she left. A slight tug on my skirt as I passed Corin's seat made me glance down at him, but he just pointed surreptitiously at the cricket and grinned. I just rolled my eyes, but couldn't quite smother all of a smile.

Susan and Edmund were waiting for me outside and together we set off for the study where Peter was waiting for us. As we turned the corner that headed away from the breakfast room the peace was shattered by an ear splitting screech. It appeared Beatrice had discovered the cricket.

On my shoulder Jenna winced and I couldn't say that I blamed her. _Ouch_.

"Sounds like Beatrice discovered the cricket," remarked my brother.

"That's been Corin's aim for the last three years, to get me to scream like that," I remarked appreciative of his skill as the shriek carried on and on.

"Not that he's going to succeed," added Ed.

How well he knew me. When King Lune and Corin had first visited us five years ago the then seven year old prince had been firmly persuaded that all girls were useless. Having worked his way through six nurses he had been thoroughly unimpressed when I had assured him that not all girls were a waste of space and even fewer actually spent all their time screaming at spiders. He had been so unimpressed, in fact, that it instantly became one of his life's ambitions to get me to scream, as he phrased it, 'like a _girl'._

Needless to say, it had immediately become _my_ life's ambition to never, ever scream 'like a _girl'_ and so far I was the clear winner of our little competition. Thankfully. The game had long since ceased to be serious but I just _knew_ that I would never live it down if I slipped up.

Which reminded me.

"What did you whisper in Corin's ear as we left?" I asked, curiously. Susan was nobody's fool and could spot one of Corin's tricks a mile away; a knack that had proved useful on more than one occasion.

"I told him that if I found that spider in his pocket anywhere near Lady Beatrice I would put something soft and squishy in his bed," she said calmly.

The slight tug on the skirt of my dress was suddenly making a lot more sense. Carefully, I put my hand into my pocket and extracted the spider that Corin had so thoughtfully placed there for me to find.

"Wouldn't happen to be this spider, would it?" Susan didn't even bother to give it a cursory look.

"Probably."

Thank Aslan for older sisters. Such a very useful aid in the war against little Corins.

OoOoO

Peter was waiting inside the study when we arrived, the mouse who had brought him the message sitting on his shoulder. On the back of one of the chairs perched a falcon, silently waiting for the rest of us to appear.

"Was that Beatrice I heard?" Peter inquired. "Has Corin struck already? I thought it was usually a day or so before he did anything major."

I deposited the spider on the desk.

"It wasn't anything major," I said coolly. "Just a cricket for Beatrice and a spider in my pocket. He's just getting started - the spider was just a warning. Give him a day or so to warm up, then . . ." I let the sentence trail off delicately and allowed a wicked smile to flash across my face.

All of my siblings groaned. They knew what that smile meant.

"Why'd you abandon breakfast?" Edmund asked, sitting down. "Couldn't it have waited?"

"Unfortunately not," Peter suddenly became more serious. "Asa here has travelled from the Western Wood carrying a message that Miko deemed important enough that it couldn't wait. He thought it best to wait for you three before he said any more."

The little brown mouse on Peter's shoulder nodded.

"I thought it would be best if Asa himself told you what he had seen," he said in his usual timid way. "I did not feel that I could do such an important message justice whilst conveying it over the breakfast table."

Susan looked worried.

"Asa?" She asked.

"The mouse speaks truly," Asa said in the clipped tones only found on the northern borders of Narnia. "My family originally comes from the northlands, but I also have some friends in the northern parts of the Western Woods. Lately there have been rumours of sightings of a few of the fell folk in that part of the forest, not many, just the occasional hag and werewulf, but enough to make my friends uneasy. They are mostly peaceable people there since there had been almost nothing to fear since your majesties were crowned, but they are growing concerned and asked me to pass on a message. They said they have sent others with messages but have heard no word in reply."

"We haven't had any messages," I said slowly, looking at Peter who was also shaking his head. "Not a word from that part of the woods in nearly two years."

The thought of the fell folk being seen in Narnia again was unsettling: we had seen neither hide nor hair of any of them since we had beaten the witch. To start with there had been the occasional sighting in the wood, but by the time we had got there they were always long gone. These sightings had grown progressively fewer over the years until they had petered out altogether. The last one had been nearly four years ago.

Edmund's face showed his thoughts were following a similar train to mine.

"I don't like it," he said, echoing my thoughts. "Why now? Nothing for nearly three-"

"Four."

"Sorry, four years. Why should we get sightings of more than one fell beast at the same time? A hag and a werewulf, you say? The sightings were always of a lone beast, heading north. Why suddenly more than one?"

Peter turned back to Asa.

"Have there been any definite sightings?" He asked. "Anything other than just rumours?"

"No, just the occasional rumour, although they are growing more common. The whole feel of the woods has changed, though. Last time I visited they were peaceful but there's an edge there that wasn't there before. People are frightened, and I for one wouldn't want to be out travelling alone at night."

"It's worth going to have a look, Peter," Susan said softly as he said nothing. "Rumours rarely turn out to be based on nothing and it shows we care."

"Su's right," I said. "I'll go, whilst the rest of you stay here. That way Governor Temus can't be offended."

"You won't," said all three of my siblings at once. I slumped back in my chair, disgruntled. Some things never changed and overprotective siblings was one of them. Still, it was worth a shot, I supposed. One day they were going to have to let me do something on my own.

"Ed and I'll go," Peter said decisively. "I'm sure Temus won't mind. We'll be gone for six days, ten at most. I'm sure he'll understand; he rules a kingdom in a small way himself.

he turned back to the falcon.

"Were you planning on flying straight back, Asa? King Edmund and I will probably be setting off first thing tomorrow morning - you're welcome to join us." Asa considered for a moment.

"I'll wait and fly with your majesties," he said.

"Tomorrow, then," Peter said and the falcon left, winging his way through the open window.

OoOoO

The others had started to leave the table by the time we got back. Corin squirmed as I dumped the spider on his head and let it scuttle down his neck.

"Maybe next time," I told him and he grinned, unrepentant.

"How can you stand those _things_," Beatrice shuddered theatrically.

"Practise," I shrugged and buttered a slice of toast.


	2. Illusion

Illusion

My first mistake, the next morning, was to get out of bed without checking that the floor below was clear. A big mistake, especially when Corin happened to be hanging around the palace. Rather than both hitting the soft, carpeted floor of my bedroom one of my feet instead sank into a large bowl of custard, thoughtfully placed where I would be most likely to stand in it.

My second mistake occurred as I hopped towards the bathroom and pushed the door open, forgetting to move out of the way as I did so. A large bucket of water emptied itself over my head, soaking me to the skin. It was painfully obvious to me that I had forgotten to lock my door the previous evening, a habit I always made sure to follow whenever Corin happened to be within a mile of Cair.

Shivering, I washed the cold, slimy custard off my foot and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around me as I tried to dry my hair, muttering something unrepeatable under my breath.

A soft knock made me scowl at the door.

"If that's Corin," I said, enunciating clearly so there could be no confusion over my words, "then he had better start running _now_."

There was a scuffling sound as Su poked her head around the door.

"Do you want me to hang on to him?" She asked and the door swung open to reveal Corin, my sister hanging onto the back of his shirt as he tried to make a run for it.

I deliberated for a moment, then regretfully shook my head. It was almost too good a chance to pass by, but there wasn't really time for a proper revenge.

Corin straightened his rumpled shirt with injured dignity when she let him go.

"There was no need for that!" He exclaimed haughtily but dropped all pretence at dignity when he saw me, standing there dripping on the floor. The splots of custard trailing from the bowl to the bathroom illustrated how well his prank had worked without any need for words on my part.

"Cor!" He said, before bolting. Susan and I watched him as he skidded down the corridor and turned out of sight. There was a crash, as he ran headfirst into one of the suits of armour. Whilst we were waiting for silence to return, Su picked up the bowl of custard.

"Ed and Peter are just getting the last of their things together," she said. "They're going to meet us in the courtyard in about five minutes to say goodbye."

"No breakfast?" I abandoned any hope of getting my hair properly dry and grabbed a dress instead.

"Eating on the march," she explained and indicated the bowl of custard. "I'll get rid of this and meet you down there in a moment."

"Right, I'll be down as soon as I'm dressed."

Five minutes later I was racing down the same corridor that Corin had fled down earlier, narrowly avoiding the same suite of armour (I'd had far more practise, you see) and down the stairs to the entrance hall.

Peter and Edmund were waiting in the courtyard just outside the main door, ten members of the guard with them. They all looked alert (or in Edmund's case, simply awake) and prepared, ready for anything.

Our guests were also there. Corin attempted to hide behind his father when he saw me coming, only to be foiled by King Lune putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him still. Governor Temus stifled a yawn behind one hand and his daughter looked equally sleepy.

Susan came through a door just as I reached the bottom of the stairs, custard bowl gone and as serene as ever, despite the early hour. We both walked over to where our brothers were standing, waiting for us to arrive, and hugged them tightly.

"Stay safe," I whispered so that only the four of us could hear.

"Safe as houses," Peter promised and Ed grinned.

"Come on Lu, When was the last time we ever did something foolish, hey?" Susan mock scowled at him and I vividly remembered the last time he had said the same thing. That was the time he'd nearly lost an arm in a fight with an ogre.

"Just stay safe," I insisted and Ed gave me a hug.

"Safe as houses," he promised, echoing Peter's words.

Letting me go, he hugged Su again and they mounted their horses.

"We should be back within ten days," Peter said more loudly so the rest of the courtyard could hear him. "If there's more trouble than we're expecting Asa has agreed to carry word, although he'll only come in an emergency. Till then, sisters."

"Till then," we replied. Wheeling around, he and Edmund led the squad out of the gates, turning around to wave as they passed the gates.

"I hope they stay safe," Susan was already fretting, pleating her handkerchief into a fan.

"They'll look after each other," I reminded her, hoping this would prove true. "Come on, breakfast!" And there were revenges to plan. One small boy just wasn't going to know what hit him.

OoOoO

The rest of the day, and the days that followed, passed quietly. Susan and I entertained our guests and tried not to worry too openly, knowing it would do no good in the long run.

The large squishy something that I put in Corin's bed produced a satisfyingly loud yell; it's hard to believe sometimes that it's _me_ who is supposed to shriek like a girl! He retaliated by trying to put a spider in my hair, which scared Beatrice when she saw the small black thing, so Susan put something large and squishy in his bed. The yell this produced was much louder than the one I had managed to illicit but she did warn him (and I can vouch for the fact that my sister _never_ makes empty threats) so I didn't feel _too_ sorry for him.

Susan still won't tell me what she used which is a shame, _I_ think. She simply told me that Edmund would not be too happy to find that between his sheets and left it at that. The lack of trust from my family members wounds me!

OoOoO

It was about five days later that there was the first sense that all was not as it should be. We hadn't had any news from Peter and Edmund, but then that wasn't really surprising; they would only have arrived a day or so before and it would have taken a while for any word to get back to us.

That was without the help of Jenna and her messengers.

Jenna and her family were slightly different to the normal servants that were around the palace. After their help at the stone table, Aslan gave them the gift of speech and since then they, well, sort of adopted us, in a way. They were less servants, and more friends, confidants and helpers whenever the need arose. The four most senior of their family group had each adopted one of us Pevensies and were always close by, whether within shouting distance or sitting in the specially made pouch attached to our belts.

They were also an infallible source of knowledge. Want to know where Peter is? Ask Jenna (or Sita or Fenn, depending on who was around). It was almost uncanny how they could pinpoint the whereabouts of any of the castle's inhabitants and I soon learnt to never doubt Jenna's word on anything.

So when Janna confessed that she was concerned about the lack of news from Peter and Edmund, I was inclined to take her seriously. This was after she had convinced me that it was possible to get a message from one side of the country to the other in less than a day, a feat the royal messengers would definitely struggle to duplicate.

"They could have just been too busy to write," I pointed out, knowing this was unlikely. Peter and Edmund never forgot to write.

"Oh, I didn't mean the kings' messages, "she said," although that is concerning too. No, Miko and Fenn always send some sort of news if they've been gone over two days; just a general all's well. But there's been nothing, and that's what I don't like." Put that way it did seem slightly worrying.

"Maybe they've just got stuck in a storm, or something," I suggested. Jenna didn't look at all convinced. "Let's give it a couple of days and if there's still nothing then we can go from there." I hoped I was doing the right thing. I didn't like to go charging after the boys on the basis that there had been no news when they themselves had said there probably wouldn't be, but Janna had never once confessed to being concerned before and I didn't take her warning lightly.

We left the conversation there, but I was uneasy for the rest of the day. So distracted was I, in fact, that my retaliation to Corin's latest trick was so feeble that he decided I must be feeling ill and generously gave me 'the day off so that I could recover'.


	3. Into The Night

Into The Night

I was quiet and distracted for the next few days. That is to say, quiet and distracted for me, which is not quite the same as it is for everyone else. Susan, for example, becomes so quiet when she is in one of those moods that it can take her almost five minutes to answer if asked a question. On the other hand though, Corin seems to just get noisier and more excitable. I don't quite go to such extremes as those two but end up in the middle: a little bit more subdued than usual, but not deadly quiet.

Unfortunately, this means that people who don't know me very well keep trying to talk to me and I have to drag my preoccupied brain away from the problem in hand to give an answer.

"Lucy!" My gritted teeth were largely inaudible, except to Jenna who chuckled softly. Beatrice linked her arm with mine and gave it a friendly squeeze. "_There_ you are! I've been looking all over for you! Nobody could tell me _where_ you were! How have you _been_! I haven't seen you _all_ morning!"

You could practically taste the exclamation marks, and you could certainly hear them.

"Around and about," I answered vaguely. She pouted.

I felt much too tired to deal with all of this right now. The combination of a late night due to the discovery, followed by the removal of the jelly at the foot of my bed, _and_ an early morning (again due to Corin) had left me irritable. I did _not_ feel like being diplomatic today.

Salvation came in the form of Prince Corin. Completely lacking the ability to stay out of trouble for more than three consecutive minutes, he hurtled around the corner and crashed into the pair of us, sending us to the floor in a jumble of skirts, legs and arms.

I was the first to regain my feet and I grabbed the back of Corin's jacket, hauling him to his before offering a hand to Beatrice, who took it.

"Ah, Corin," I said as if nothing had just happened. "Just the person I was hoping to see. Please excuse us, Beatrice." Not waiting for a reply, I propelled Corin into a nearby room and followed him, closing the door firmly.

"What was it this time," I asked as he dusted off his knees. He grinned, unabashed.

"Nothing to major," he tried to convince me.

I waited for him to spill the beans.

"It was only a little frog," he confessed, adding when he saw my skeptical expression "honest!"

"And where was this little frog?"

"Well," he considered, "it might have been a toad."

"Corin!"

"Susan's pocket."

I choked. Had he learnt nothing from the last time he had crossed my older sister?

"I'm glad I'm not in your shoes right now," I told him bluntly and he shifted, obviously in agreement. A stroke of inspiration hit me.

"How about a nice, uncomplicated deal?" I proposed. Corin looked wary, but willing to listen.

"How about," I thought rapidly for something that would appeal to him. "How about I arrange for you to have a nice picnic in the woods. A trip out of the palace, so to speak, whilst Susan calms down a bit."

The first part of the deal appealed to him enormously, just as I had hoped it would.

"But?"

I pulled an apologetic face. "It would only be a small thing . . ."

"What would?"

"And not at all difficult . . ."

"Yes?"

"And you never know, you might even enjoy it . . ."

"Tell me!"

"Well, you see, I know that Beatrice is just _dying_ to take a look at some of the surrounding countryside. . ."

His face was horrified "No deal!"

I sighed dramatically.

"Although, now I think about it, you must have hundred of things to be doing. I know Susan_ particularly_ wanted to talk to you, and your father mentioned something about a new tutor . . . ?"

I had him and he knew it.

"On second thoughts," he said quickly, "I'll do it."

"Would you really?" I asked sweetly. "It's so kind of you to volunteer like that!" He grumped something unintelligible and opened the door.

"Oh, and Corin?"

"What?"

"I think her father mentioned something about wanting to go along too . . ."

Muttering, he shut the door behind him and I took a moment to grin before heading to the kitchens to order a picnic. The poor boy did deserve _some_ reward, after all.

OoOoO

The rest of the day was quiet and blissfully peaceful. With Corin haven undertaken the entertainment of our guests, Susan and I were able to quietly do the hundred and one jobs we had been neglecting. For the rest of the morning we just got on, before meeting King Lune at lunch. He too had been enjoying the chance to just get sorted and lunch was as peaceful as the rest of the day had been.

The picnicking group appeared half and hour before we were going to have dinner, the picnic hamper emptied and having had a wonderful time. The young prince had entertained them well, hoping, I think, that Susan would forgive him if he behaved properly.

She did, and dinner was as peaceful a meal as lunch.

All this peace was lovely but I knew it wouldn't last until bed time. Corin was already trying to look innocent, a sure sign something was up and I was trying to figure out what he would do next when Jenna spoke up in my ear.

"Gelson's returned," she whispered. "He's waiting in the study."

"Can you tell him we'll be there in a moment?" I asked and she was gone. I got up and touched Susan's shoulder lightly. She had noticed Jena talking to me and her face was concerned as she looked up.

"Gelson's back," I said and she paled.

"Just Gelson?"

"I don't know. Jenna didn't say." Laying her napkin down carefully she got up and we excused ourselves. Once we got outside the small dining room where we usually ate we picked up our skirts and ran, slipping and sliding on the polished stone floor.

Gelson was the only dwarf who had travelled out with my brothers. When he had set out with my brothers, over a week ago, he had been fit and healthy but now he looked exhausted, his red beard a tangled mess and his clothes filthy and mud spattered.

Dwarves were amongst the toughest of Narnia's inhabitants, rivalled only by the centaurs. To see Gelson, who was exceedingly tough, even for a dwarf, looking like this was, well, worrying to say the least.

When he saw us, he tried to stand but Susan waved him back to his seat and he collapsed back down. His legs looked like they had simply refused to hold him up anymore.

Silently, I poured him a drink of something, whatever it was that Peter kept in the decanter on the sideboard, and handed it too him. He accepted it gratefully and took a gulp of the amber liquid, chocked, then took another, smaller, sip.

The drink (which I was convinced wasn't apple juice) seemed to give him some energy because he sat up a little straighter and looked a little less comatose. Only a little, though.

Susan was quiet for a moment, then she spoke in a measured tone.

"What happened, Gelson?"

When the dwarf didn't reply for a moment, her voice lost some of its calmness.

"Where are they? _Where are our brothers_?"

I had never seen my sister so close to losing control. There were a couple of extra glasses next to the decanter so I poured out some more of the liquid and put it into her hand. She slumped in her chair, then sat up slowly.

"My apologies, Gelson." She took a sip, grimaced, and took another. He waved away her apologies, finished his glass, then started.

"They knew we were coming, no doubt about it."

"Ambush?"

"Of sorts. When we arrived around midday there wasn't hide nor hair of any Fell Beasts. The woodlanders were pleased to see us and helped us to set up camp. Nothing happened for a couple of days, then King Edmund and about half the group went into the woods, scouting around a bit. When they weren't back by dusk, King Peter and the others set out looking. I was told to stay back, mind the camp and tell your brother where the High King was if he showed up."

"And he didn't show up."

"Neither of them did. The next day, I and a couple of the woodlanders set off to try and find them. We found a clearing in the woods, maybe five miles away. The rest of the guards were there, dead, but your brothers were gone.

This time when Susan slumped she didn't sit back up again. She had put her glass down so I picked it up and put it in her hand again, but she didn't take a drink. It seemed like I was going to have to take charge for a bit; my sister looked to shocked to carry on.

"What did you do then?" I prompted.

"One of the woodlanders ran back to get some help and we buried the others. There were a few tracks, mostly scuffle marks, but they faded away after a short distance, next to a stream. We spent the rest of the day trying to find more, but there wasn't a trace."

My mind was whirling, trying to process the information I had. One thing I definitely knew for sure was that there had been more than an odd one or two of the fell beasts. It would have taken at least double our number, probably more although if they were in two separate groups at the time maybe a few less. . .

"There must have been about twenty of them," I summarized, hoping I wasn't too far off the mark. Gelson nodded in agreement.

"Certainly no less, probably no more than thirty or we would have seen more definite signs, either way it's a lot more than we were expecting."

"And you said they knew you were coming?"

"Probably. They had enough time to completely hide camp and organise themselves."

I had worked out my plan but I still paused before telling it too the others. I knew my sister would definitely not be too enamoured of it and I had a funny feeling that Gelson wouldn't either. Still, it was worth a try.

"I don't think there would really be any point several people trying to rescue them if they already knew we were coming," I said slowly.

"So you would suggest that only one or two went?"

"Certainly no more."

"Just who were you thinking of?" Susan asked. My sister is no fool and her narrowed eyes told me she had sussed out my plan already.

"Well. . ."

"No."

I dropped any pretence.

"But I know I can do it! I'm actually the best person for the job. They'll be expecting a large group to arrive in about four days. If I fly, I can be there within two. They won't be expecting just one person to try and rescue them."

"For a good reason! It's nearly suicidal: there would be almost thirty of them to one of you!"

"Two of us," I reminded her. "Tirikala will be there and I doubt there will be more than twenty"

"So there would be you and a griffin against twenty fell beasts. Are you _mad_?"

I grabbed a map out of one of the drawers and showed it to her, plotting a wiggly course with my finger.

"This is the way a group of soldiers would have to go," I told her. "To cross the Great River they would have to take a large detour to the north or the south so they can use the bridges. If I went, I wouldn't have to bother with bridges." This time the course I plotted was much straighter.

"It'll knock about a day of the journey, plus I can set out tonight. The earliest anyone else could leave would be tomorrow because they have to sort out provisions for around fifty people, find weapons, you know the drill. This way I can be there and get Peter and Edmund out before anyone's expecting a thing."

It made sense, and Susan knew it. She _really_ didn't like it, though.

"The soldiers should still go too," I added. "Even if I do get Peter and Edmund out we'll still need to deal with the fell beasts themselves and if I can't get them out then they'll only be a couple of days away. We have nothing to lose."

"What if one of the others went with Tirikala?"

"Who? Dwarves can't stand heights. Centaurs are too big and you know fauns don't fly well. The others are all too small. It's got to be me."

"Take someone with you?"

"Too heavy. Speed's our ally now"

"What if I went?"

"And what if you ran into trouble? You might be good with a bow and arrow but with anything else . . . " I didn't really have to say anymore. Susan knew full well she was hopeless with any other type of weaponry.

Indecision played across her face and she looked at the map for a full minute and a half before she accepted the inevitable.

"The soldiers will set out tomorrow," she told me and I nodded, perfectly happy with that decision. Whilst I was sure that I wouldn't actually _need_ any help, it was always a good idea to know there was a back-up plan if things went wrong.

Susan turned to Gelson but the dwarf was asleep in the chair. She smiled and we tiptoed out of the study where we separated, me to pack a small bag of things and her to tell Tirikala and the others.


	4. Under The Rain

Under The Rain

By the time Tirikala, Jenna and I set out it was raining heavily and completely dark, not that it stopped us. The first part of our journey followed the road to Archenland which lead west for a way before turning south towards the mountain pass. Since we didn't really need much light we pressed on whilst we could, flying close to the road.

The road to Archenland deviated from our route just south of Owlswood, so we stopped there for the remainder of the night. It was only then, when I was sodden and weary, that I realised that I had left the map behind.

Whilst I had been packing it had occurred to me that plotting our route before setting out would save time. The map was at this moment sitting on the desk in my bedroom, as warm and dry as a map could be. Meanwhile, I was out here, wet and freezing cold.

It was not what I would call an auspicious start to the journey.

Thankfully Tirikala did not seem to be too fazed by the lack of map, saying that as long as we carried on due west we would eventually reach the southern end of the western wood and from there it should be easy to find our way.

On that note we went to sleep, all of us hoping that the next morning would bring clearer skies and warmer temperatures.

OoOoo

The next morning dawned, still cold, but the downpour had lessened to a steady drizzle. After a quick breakfast we pressed on, although not quite as quickly as we had hoped. A wind had sprung up whilst we slept, making flight difficult and our progress was slow. Still, at least it was progress.

Around midmorning we became aware of a horseman a few miles back and for rest of the morning he followed our trail, never quite managing to close the gap but never falling behind.

This unnerved me, and I was more than ready by midday to find out just who it was. It seemed to me to be too big a coincidence that someone had just decided to head westwards to nowhere in particular on a day like today so we stopped, waiting for him to catch us up.

As he drew closer it became apparent that the rider was small, smaller than a full grown adult and a truly appalling though occurred to me.

By the time Corin rode up half an hour later I was thoroughly unamused by the whole situation.

"Hullo," he said cheerfully, by way of greeting. "You got anything to eat?" Then he spotted my glare and took a small step backwards. Jenna sniggered quietly in my ear, but I tried to ignore her.

"Just _what_ do you think you are doing?" My voice cracked like a whip and I wasn't surprised to see him take another step backwards. I have frequently been told that I can be quite scary when in this mood. I was beyond unamused by now. The silly boy hadn't even thought to bring any _food_.

"Um," he supplied weakly. I rose one of my eyebrows and he quailed. He had never seen me so angry before. I think he actually believed that I never took things any more seriously than he himself did and assumed I didn't do much of importance in the running of the kingdom.

He was completely wrong.

"I thought you'd be pleased to see me," he burst out. "I thought we would have an adventure!"

"You _what_?" I spluttered. "An _adventure_? Are you _mad_? This is a rescue mission in the hope that we might be able to save my brother's _lives_! This is _not_ some silly _adventure_ jaunt! It's a matter of life and death! Peter and Edmund's deaths!"

I turned my back on him and stalked over to Tirikala, Jenna still sitting on my shoulder, sniggering quietly.

"Any ideas on what to do with him?" I demanded of the pair of them. "We can't leave him _or _send him back - he'll only follow us and Aslan _knows_ what I'll say to the Archenlanders if he gets hurt."

_When_ he got hurt. This _was_ Corin we were talking about after all. The Corin who couldn't stay out of trouble for more than three consecutive minutes.

"We could escort him back to Cair," Jenna suggested but I shook my head, reluctant to lose our lead that we had gained.

"We could take him with us," Tirikala suggested dubiously. "There's a family of fauns who live in the southern end of the Western Woods. We could leave him with them."

It would mean a large detour to find a bridge but it probably would be the quickest thing to do. That wasn't to say that it was going to be a good idea (and I was sure that it wasn't going to be nearly that easy) but I couldn't really see anything else to do with him.

"Would his horse head back to Cair if we left him?" I asked Tirikala.

She shrugged.

"He might do. There's a herd around here that might escort him. It depends. They probably would if you asked them to."

That was a much better solution to the problem. Corin wouldn't weigh too much, and since I wasn't overly heavy it was Tirikala would be able to carry both of us without too much trouble.

"Would you be able to find them, do you think?"

"I'll find them."

"Thanks." I smiled at her, relieved that we wouldn't have to lose time making the large detour to the bridge. "I'll wait with His Highness until you get back." I stepped backwards as she launched herself into the sky.

Fishing around in one of the packs, I extracted a lump of bread and stalked over to him, scowling.

"That's all you're getting," I told him bluntly and he looked taken aback. Good. He could jolly well get used to the fact I wasn't happy with him.

"Since you decided to come along on this jaunt of yours without any food we're on light rations for a day or so." He looked crestfallen, in that way only hungry boys could and for a minute he reminded me of Edmund when he had been the same age. He too had been relentlessly hungry. Still was, truth be told. Peter too.

The realisation that he was probably going to be hungry for the next couple of days seemed to hammer home how much trouble he was in and he sat in an uncharacteristically quiet huddle for at least half an hour. Nothing, however, could keep Corin down for long and eventually he piped up with what he evidently hoped would be a sufficient peace offering to stop me being cross.

"I brought the map," he told me.

Clearly he wasn't above a poke around in my room, even when I wasn't there! Bah!

OoOoO

An hour later and we were on our way again. The leader of the herd, a sensible older horse, had been only too happy to escort Corin's horse back to Cair which solved our problem nicely. Isn't it nice when things work out like that? It's just such a shame that it doesn't happen more often.

The rest of the day was as soggy as the beginning part had been and slowly, oh so slowly, Corin's chatter faded into silence.

To start with the peace was bliss, but when the uncharacteristic silence had been going on for more than half an hour I cracked and looked back over my shoulder at him. He was sitting in a miserable heap, looking exceedingly sorry for himself as he shivered. I hadn't really thought about it much, but I had to admit that it probably wasn't exactly dry as we flew through the mizzle that had replaced the rain. Corin was probably more than a little bit damp.

Sighing, I decided it would probably be better for the trip if he didn't get pneumonia and reluctantly shrugged off one of my many outer layers of clothing which I handed back to him. He took it and pathetically put it on, sniffing dolefully.

I really couldn't wait for us to finally reach Tirikala's fauns in the Western Woods.

Only another day or so to go.

Bah.


	5. Two Roads

Two Roads

I stomped into the clearing, scowling. Corin, who had seen this scowl before, prudently removed himself from my line of vision as I continued to stomp towards Tirikala and Jenna.

"They weren't there," I said. "The house was empty and it didn't look as if anybody has been there for at least a couple of days."

Tirikala took a moment to digest this fact.

"Oh."

Oh? _Oh?_ That word never did any wonders for my patience and it was always - _always_ - trotted out when I was cross, usually by Edmund.

Bah.

Behind me I could just _tell_ that Corin had figured out what this meant for him.

"Does this mean that I can come along too?" I didn't need to look to know that he would be practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"No," I said baldly.

"Oh."

"I'm afraid I really don't see what else we can _do_ with him, though." Jenna was ever the practical one.

"Tirikala can take him back to Cair." Tirikala was shaking her head before I'd even finished and I had to admit that she was right. I was still quite a way from where Peter and Edmund had disappeared and if I wanted to get there before the army then I was going to need her to get me there.

I needed a workable plan and I had to think for a few minutes before something occurred to me. I turned back to the others.

"Ok," I said, "this is what we're going to do.

OoOoO

"But I don't want to!" Corin was still protesting loudly _half an hour_ later. Aslan, that boy was stubborn. Normally I would have been perfectly happy for him to be as stubborn as he liked - normally I had the time and the energy to spare containing his high-jinks - but today was not normally and I had almost had enough.

"I don't care."

"But _Lucy_-"

"I've told you what we're going to do. Why are you still arguing?"

"But _Lucy_-"

"But Lucy nothing. You _will_ go with Tirikala and you _will_ remain with the woodlanders - I don't care if they have to tie you up to keep you there but you _will_ stay."

And that, really, was the end of it. Corin would do what he was told, for once. That didn't mean he was at all happy about it. I had to blot out his muttering for the rest of the day as I attempted to work out a way to get Peter and Edmund out of _their_ predicament, and then all four of _us_ out of the Western Woods and back to safety without being caught by the Fell Folk who would be looking for us.

Just a small problem, then.

Hah.

It seemed to me that there was only two real ways of going about it: I could either scout around the Fell Folk's camp, then report what I had learned to the leader of the small army Susan would have sent after me, _or_ I could try and sneak in, free my brothers, collect Corin and then evade the Fell Folk as we fled to safety.

The second option had the advantage that my brothers couldn't be used as hostages when the fighting broke out, which was likely.

It did, however, have the disadvantage that (if I did somehow manage to free Peter and Edmund) I would have to deal with the Fell Folk and I wasn't entirely confident that either Edmund or Peter would be in any shape for fighting if there was a problem. Truth to tell, it was likely _when_ there was fighting.

I sighed.

Behind me, Corin perked up, thinking that I had given in.

"I could help!"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

He subsided and continued his muttering.

It seemed obvious to me that the first option wasn't much of a choice and would probably lead to a bigger muddle, but the second option had a much greater capability for going wrong. Not only would they have Peter and Edmund, but they would also have me and potentially Corin, not to mention Jenna (although I would defy anybody to keep _her_ tied up for long) and Tirikala.

Tirikala could fly - that meant she had an obvious escape route. Therefore she was clearly the person to stay with Corin as she could keep him safer than I could. He should be safe with the woodlanders, though, not that I was going to leave him on his own. Who knew what trouble he could cause?

So that meant Jenna was going to have to stay with Corin. If Tirikala left me a couple of miles from the Fell Folks camp, took Corin and Jenna to the woodlanders, then came back to meet me, we would lose less time and I could scout around a bit...

Finally, the gem of an idea was starting to build in my mind - it was nonsensical, but it might just work.

Hopefully.

The first thing to do, though, was to get rid of Corin.

OoOoO

"I'll meet you back here in a couple of hours," I finished off my instructions to Jenna and Tirikala. Corin was sulking and hadn't said a word the entire time I was speaking, but I wasn't too fussed. He could sulk all he liked as long as he was safe and not causing trouble. He just couldn't seem to grasp the fact that I was actually trying to help him, as well as my brothers. To him, the fact that I wouldn't let him come was a sign that I didn't view him as an adult (fair enough - I didn't) and that I thought he couldn't look after himself (I wasn't convinced, but I suspected that he could probably do a reasonably good job of it). The thought that there might be other things to take into consideration hadn't yet occurred.

Hopefully it would before he got himself into too deep a bit of bother for him to tackle.

Removing one of the packs from where it was attached to the saddle, I rummaged through until I found what I was looking for. Carefully I extracted a small knife, still in it's sheath, and handed it to Corin. He looked surprised, forgetting to sulk for the moment.

"Keep this on you all the time," I told him. "Keep it safe and don't let anybody know that you've got it. I hope to Aslan you won't need it, but only fool doesn't have a back up. Keep your eyes open and remember - an enemy won't necessarily stand out in a crowd. Jenna'll look after you but don't ever forget that you're in danger"

He scoffed at that.

"Just - be sensible." I gave Jenna a steady look. _Corin_ wouldn't be sensible, but she would and hopefully she would stop him doing something stupid. Jenna would know as well as anybody what the consequences would be if he got himself hurt or killed.

Picking my pack up from the ground, I stepped back.

"Stay safe," I ordered, then turned, disappearing quickly amongst the trees.


	6. Nonsensical

Nonsensical

It didn't take me long to lose sight of the clearing where I had left the others. The woods were quiet - eerily so - and I stopped to loosen the dagger in my belt. Still not feeling quite comfortable, I took another from my pack which I had tied to my back to keep it out of my way. The comforting weight of the slender knife Father Christmas had given me in my hand settled my nerves somewhat, and I felt slightly more prepared for any trouble that came my way.

Edmund often teased me about this settling feeling I was given by a _knife_ - but I noticed that he never had one far from hand either.

I kept my eyes and ears open as I slipped through the woods, searching for any signs of movement or, in fact, anything vaguely unusual. The dead silence of the wood in itself was warning enough that something wasn't right and I was even more wary than normal.

Eventually, I spotted something in one of the bushes and shrank back behind a tree. Some of the leaves quivered in a nonexistent breeze, then a couple more.

Carefully I grabbed the lower branch of my tree and hoisted myself up, then up onto the next until I was a good eight or nine feet from the floor. Beneath me, the leaves continues to quiver in the bush and from my higher vantage point I could see that there was definitely something in there.

From further behind the bush I was watching a man suddenly appeared, startling me. I hadn't seen him, concentrating on the bush as I had been. His clothes were torn and not exactly clean, that was obvious even from my distance. Shaggy hair coated the majority of his face and an ax was strapped across his back so that he could easily reach it if needed.

Slowly, he crept forward until he was hidden behind the same bush I was watching. If I hadn't been in the tree, I wouldn't have been able to see him at all. Clearly he knew how to move in woodland.

"What's the problem?" The whisper was low enough that I had to strain my ears to hear it and I could only just pick it up.

"Something doesn't smell right." It was a second man who answered, matching the others low whisper. The first man sniffed, then again. After a third sniff he shook his head.

"Can't smell a thing," he muttered disgustedly. "I hate this part of the month - can barely hear anything, can't smell anything. You sure something's wrong?"

"No. Not sure. Probably nothing. Can barely smell anything at the moment. Probably a good thing - I doubt we smell of roses at the moment!"

His companion let out a bark of laughter.

"Probably." He stood up and walked forwards until he was right underneath my tree. I held my breath as he paused, looking around.

"Can't see anything. Just ignore it." He made his way back to where he had been hiding. Crouching down, he disappeared underneath some kind of cover and vanished completely from sight. Briefly, I wondered whether or not there might be other hides hidden around the woods; they might prove useful later on if we needed to escape from view for a while.

My plan was definitely beginning to take shape now.

Deciding that it probably wasn't a good idea to move for a little bit, I settled back to ponder the first man's words. It took me a few moments to puzzle out what he meant, but when I did, I almost laughed. I hadn't been particularly paying attention to the phase of the moon recently, but I did remember that the night before there had almost no moonlight. Counting backwards, I worked out that it would have to be the new moon tonight.

Perfect; no light and the werewolves wouldn't have the advantage of keener smell and hearing.

Now I just had to wait for the 'wolves below to move on so I could get out of the tree and meet Tirikala.

OoOoO

It was considerably more than a couple of hours by the time I managed to get myself out of the tree I was hiding in. Cold (and not a little cramped from sitting so still for so long) I made my way back through the darkened forest to where I was to meet Tirikala.

When I got there, she was waiting for me. Thankfully, she wasn't the type of griffin to panic if plans went a little awry (which, to be fair, mine often did) and so listened to me without the endless interruptions that I tend to get. I filled her in as I ate a piece a cheese. A sensible griffin, she agreed that my plan did seem risky, especially as I hadn't even managed to get close enough to the camp to check whether or not it was actually possible. However, Tirikala also reckoned that it was going to see if it was possible.

OoOoO

Slowly, I shifted, careful not to make a noise that could wake any one of the hundred or so Fell Folk that were asleep all around me. The tree I was in (yes - _another _tree) was large and leafy, with good sturdy branches that could get me close to the floor when I needed to.

My plan seemed infinitely more risky now that I realised the number of Fell Folk we were going to have avoid. Quite how so many Folk had managed to avoid detection for so long was presently stumping me - but I could tell that there was something much bigger going on than I had first thought.

Below me one of my brothers gave a snorting grunt (I would have put my money on Peter). Trust Peter to make such a noise, although I guess sleeping tied to a tree couldn't exactly be comfortable. In fact, I was surprised he was asleep at all. Sleeping sitting up is _hard_. I could hear Edmund give a long suffering sigh. Clearly this had been going on for a while and I'm sure that Edmund would be the first to say that he gets crabby when he's lacking proper sleep.

Poor Peter.

Still, at least one of them was awake - that was something.

Putting my hand in my pocket, I pulled out one of the twigs I had picked up earlier. Carefully I aimed, then lobbed it at Edmund's head. My aim (as it usually is, I feel I should say) was accurate. It bounced off my poor, unsuspecting brother's head.

There was another long suffering sigh, but he didn't look up so I lobbed another.

After the third missile had landed, he _eventually_ looked up.

I waved.

He scowled.

I smiled.

He scowled a bit more.

That's gratitude for you!

I looked around to see if any of the Folk seemed to be awake and looking in our direction. I couldn't tell in the dark. I could only just see Edmund so I had to trust that they wouldn't be able to see me.

Quietly, I slipped down the last couple of branches to the ground, fished my knife out from my belt and started sawing through the ropes restraining my brothers. On the other side of the tree, the grunting snorts where abruptly cut off. I suspected that Ed had probably kicked his brother as best as he could from his position next to him.

One of the ropes gave and I started on the next. my plan was to get the ropes of my brothers, and then get them into the tree. Tirikala was going to return in five minutes and start ferrying us one by one here. We were counting on the lack of light to hide our movements and hoped that anybody who was awake wouldn't be able to spot us.

I was concentrating so hard on the rope, I missed whoever it was behind me. The first I knew of them was when the club made contact with the back of my head.

_Ouch._


End file.
